Every now and then I will take a drive out to the country and enjoy the sights and sounds of farm life. When I was very young my grandparents had a farm, and my happiest childhood memories are from visiting them on their farm. Last weekend I decided to take such a drive and found myself driving very slowly behind a caravan of farm equipment. As you can imagine, in the country roads there are not very many opportunities to pass slow moving farm vehicles, so I just settled in for a slow ride; I was in no particular hurry.
Eventually all of the trucks pulled into a long dirt driveway and as I passed I took a look at some of the equipment that was being hauled. One of the things was a huge conveyor belt device that I could only imagine would be used for silo unloading. I don’t know what all of the other machines were, or how they are used. Sometimes I fantasize about living on a farm and driving big farm equipment. But then I think about the old sit-com “Green Acres” and start to chuckle – I don’t think my wife would take kindly to living the farm life at all!
I think Freecycle is great, but it has its limitations. We get (and give) some great stuff for free, but there are times when it can be aggravating. For example, when you are trying to negotiate a pickup or dropoff, the other party involved doesn’t seem to want to exchange telephone numbers, they simply state that they are leaving something by the curb for you to pick up at a certain time. But sometimes that certain time is simply impossible to meet, and when you send them an email about it to try to let them know (and renegotiate) they don’t always respond. So it can get quite frustrating! And if you are trying to give something away and the person doesn’t show up to get it, and doesn’t call you to let you know that they aren’t coming (or got lost) or to renegotiate a different time, that is very frustrating as well!
Maybe they ought to develop a rating/ranking system like e-bay, where feedback is given. I think that would make it a lot easier to use!
Yesterday my wife was watching some home improvement television shows and noticed that a lot of the designers that have been featured in the bathroom renovations were using Vessel Sinks. She was telling me that the next time that we renovate the master bathroom she might like to have a Vessel Sink. I think they’re nice looking but I would be concerned because there does not seem to be any kind of overflow outlet in them.
My In-laws run their own retail shipping store and they frequently travel around to as many local trade shows as they can squeeze into their very busy schedule. As I mentioned in my previous post my mother-in-law just turned eighty years old and even though she is a real spitfire we know that packing up her Trade Show Displays into the back of their van and then setting up at the show location is becoming more difficult for her to do. My father-in-law helps as much as he can but he’s getting on in years as well and has his own aches and pains and physical limitations.
My wife and I found out that they are scheduled to go to a local trade show that we want to attend over the Columbus day weekend and we have volunteered to help her to unload the van and set up her Vinyl Banners and display tables for her. Since the show is so close to home we have also volunteered to help her breakdown the display and repack her van.
The last time we tagged along with her we ended up helping to man the tables and talk with the interested people that stopped by for information. We were also selling raffle tickets to help raise money for the Shriner’s children’s hospital charities. Since my father-in-law, brother-in-law and I are all Shriners we always try to incorporate raising money for the children’s hospitals in every possible activity we get involved in where we are dealing with a lot of people that we might never have contact with for any other reason.
Over the past week I’ve had to go to the big orange home improvement store several times to pick up a few things for a project I’m doing at home. I’ve spent about $2000 there just this past week! But I’ve noticed that when I go there if I have a question about something I have a very hard time finding anyone to answer my questions! I don’t know if they are understaffed or if they are hiding from me! Oh wait a minute – I remember now – they ARE understaffed! According to the Internet they are hiring at that store, but when I go in and talk to them they tell me that there has been a hiring freeze on for several years! So THAT’s why I can’t find anyone to wait on me!
Well, I was given a $10 coupon to use at the big blue home improvement store that is at the opposite end of town, and I decided that I would go there today to pick up a few things that I needed. They had employees all over the place! And they were all stopping to say hello and ask me if I needed any help! And it was wonderful! They did help me find some of the things that I needed, and they helped me to load the stuff in my car. I’ll be going back there again the next time I need home improvement supplies!
Automotive, Business and work, Gadgets and Technology, General life, Home and Garden | Dean | 
November 4, 2011 7:28 pm | 
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